The leap from adding and subtracting to beginning multiplication is always HUGE for students! Many of my students admitted to feeling excited and motivated to learn, while several other students admitted to feeling scared and worried. Of course I had to follow up with, “What are you worried about?” The
Bulletin Boards in my classroom need to be workhorses – meaning that they serve a purpose – not just be cute! I have posters displayed that I refer to constantly during class. My classroom is on the small side, so bulletin board space is very, very valuable real estate in
I’ve just got to tell you about something that – well, maybe everyone is already on board with – but I just got to the BOUNCY BALL PARTY! I thought I was being very brave and cutting edge getting an exercise ball for my classroom. I was surprised to learn
Performing 2-digit multiplication is tough stuff that requires a lot of practice and repetition (and repetition and repetition). My state is a Common Core state, so this year I have taught the range of methods, including the box method, partial products method, lattice method, and the traditional algorithm. Some students
My last several weeks has been quite eye opening. Imagine – my students don’t understand FRACTIONS! They haven’t been able to make sense of the idea that a fraction is typically smaller than 1 whole, despite having large numbers in the numerator and/or denominator. I was also quite surprised to
Writing stems help students answer constructed response questions as they cite evidence from the text. Learn how to use writing stems in class. During reading class, something that’s often repeated is “Cite your evidence” and “You need to PROVE your answer.” In addition, state test questions often ask students to
How do you stay organized with your daily lessons – and planning ahead? One quick and easy way that I’ve learned – that actually WORKS for me – is using Color-Coded Files for my daily lesson plans. I will admit that I spend WAY too long planning my lessons and
We’ve been working on learning multiplication facts for several months now – and now we’ve added division facts to the mix. We’re getting better, but I still have several students who are struggling to learn and remember them. Several of my resources have addressed these strugglers and I feel like
